Alpha Coherence in Infants of Depressed Mothers

Prior research on neurophysiology of infants of depressed mothers commonly has focused on EEG power and asymmetry. Whether infants of depressed mothers show differences in coherence is undetermined. This study examined the development of EEG alpha coherence in infants of mothers with various degrees of depression. Also investigated was the normative development of alpha coherence in infancy. The relationship between maternal depression and infant coherence was analyzed at different infant ages, from 1-12-months-old. There were significant effects of maternal depression on infant coherence between frontal-occipital regions, frontal-parietal regions, and central-parietal regions, in 1-month-olds. There were also significant maternal depression effects in central-parietal coherence in 1-3-month-olds and 3-6-month-olds. Differences were in the right hemisphere and were generally characterized by lower coherence in infants whose mothers had higher depression. Infants whose mothers had lower depression demonstrated age-related decreases in coherence, but infants of more highly depressed mothers did not show age-related differences.